Namesake
by nanjarohoihoi
Summary: Naruto discovers Jiraiya's first novel. A possible continuation of chapter 382 of the Naruto manga.


(This was inspired by chapter 382 of the Naruto manga. Spoilers ahoy. It should be noted that I wrote this in the summer of 2008 before the manga dealt with Naruto receiving Jiraiya's first book. Think of this as an AU or sorts -- another way it could have happened.)

**Namesake**

When Naruto entered Konoha's library to review a scroll on Rock Country before a diplomatic mission, it only took twenty minutes for the tales of noblemen to bore him out of his mind. He wandered out of his assigned reading room into the library proper, and in an attempt to procrastinate while still looking like he was doing something important, he walked up to the card catalogue.

Naruto pulled open the heavy drawer containing hundreds of carefully organized reference cards, and, out of curiosity, began scanning for a name. He spotted the title "Icha Icha Paradise" before he found what he'd been looking for. In the corner of a card, three red kanji stood out sharply against their white background. They read: "Jiraiya".

He rifled through the cards that followed, noting that the library held copies of all eight volumes of the perverse "Icha Icha" series. "Perverted sage," he muttered affectionately and shook his head.

When he thumbed through the eighth and final "Icha Icha" card, Naruto found an older card of a different color behind it. It was half the height of the cards surrounding it, and Naruto would have ignored it completely if he didn't spot the characters for Jiraiya's name on its corner. Oddly, the novel in question wasn't labeled as erotica.

He pulled the card out and squinted at the dewey-decimal numbers written underneath a title he didn't recognize. Then he looked up at the tall intimidating bookshelves, each with a series of letters and numbers attached to it. Determined, Naruto made a fist and marched in-between the walls of books.

After a half hour of frustrated searching, angry glares, and three warnings from librarians to stop sounding like a rhino loose in a porcelain shop, a short librarian with graying hair grabbed the back of his jacket and dragged him to the front desk.

"Kid", he said with a suffering sigh, "you can't make that kind of ruckus in here."

"But mister," Naruto started. He realized just how loud he was and lowered the volume of his voice. "I'm just looking for a book."

The librarian wordlessly took the card from his hand, eying him strangely. "Give me a moment," he said and disappeared into the stacks. As he waited, Naruto leaned against the counter, propping his elbow on the desk and his face in his hand. Absentmindedly, he drummed the fingers of his opposite hand against the counter and eyed the books and scrolls of countless shapes, colors and sizes on the other side of the desk.

The librarian came back empty handed. "Sorry, kid," he told him. "It's been taken out."

Naruto sighed and walked back to the reading room. As he read about the Iwagakure's son's favorite food, he wondered about Jiraiya's first novel, asking himself why he had never heard of it. 'Maybe the library is wrong and it's really perverted,' he thought and frowned.

*

Naruto's mission to Rock Country ended two weeks later, but it wasn't until six weeks afterwards that Naruto remembered the book. It was late in the afternoon when Naruto visited the library and asked the same old man at the counter about it. He checked a large scroll with a green and gold border and then replied, "I'm afraid it's still out."

*

When Naruto visited the library three weeks after that and discovered that the book was still out, he paid a visit to Kakashi. He banged on Kakashi's door and after five minutes of cursing and shouting, "I know you're in there, you lazy-ass of a teacher!" Kakashi opened the door.

"What is it, Naruto?" he asked, tired and irritated.

"You own all of perverted sage's books, right?"

Kakashi yawned. "Yeah. Why?"

"Does that mean you own the book he wrote before the 'Icha Icha' series?"

Kakashi stared at him. Taking Kakashi's silence as an affirmative, Naruto jumped up and down on the balls of his feet. "Can I borrow it, sensei? Can I?"

"Hmmm." Kakashi seemed to consider it, his visible eye looking upwards in thought. "Maybe when you're older," he finally concluded.

Naruto protested, "But sensei, you know I--"

Ignoring him completely, Kakashi yawned for a second time, and slammed the door in Naruto's face.

*

Naruto returned to the library two months later, and when he learned it still hadn't been returned, he exclaimed, "What the hell? Who would want to keep perverted sage's book for this long?"

The librarian let out a suffering sigh, and checked a scroll. "Jiraiya-sama's book was checked out two years ago by--" He paused for a moment and then stood up straight. "It was checked out by Godaime-sama."

*

Naruto confronted Tsunade later that week when he went with Team 7 for a mission briefing. When Tsunade was finished informing them on what dangers to expect in the mountains, Naruto took the opportunity to ask: "Can I borrow perverted sage's first book from you?"

Thrown off guard by the question, Tsunade immediately looked at Kakashi. Then she raised an eyebrow at Naruto. "This is unrelated to your mission," she pointed out.

Naruto explained, "I've been trying to find it, but the library said you've had it out for two years." He raised an eyebrow of his own at her.

She eyed him carefully, and then said, "I lost it. But if it shows up, I'll let you know."

*

Naruto pestered Kakashi a second time after their meeting with Tsunade.

"I used to own it," Kakashi admitted as he read an old tattered copy of "Icha Icha Violence". "However, years ago I gave it away."

"To who?" Naruto asked, exasperated.

Kakashi flipped a page. "I donated it to the library, of course."

*

Knowing Tsunade would never incur a penalty for keeping the book, Naruto tried bookstores next. He visited all three of the ones in Konoha, and one in Sunagakure. He went so far as to use a transformation jutsu to get himself into an adult bookstore that Kakashi frequented. Though he learned that the displays for 'Icha Icha' were even more frightening inside the stores, he wasn't any closer to getting his hands on a copy of Jiraiya's novel.

Figuring it was impossible for the time being, Naruto concentrated on other things.

*

In the following year, Naruto encountered Sasuke three times and barely had an opportunity to think about the book. Each of their confrontations were more deadly than their ones previous, and each time they met, Naruto feared that the Sasuke he once knew was slipping further and further into the darkness.

After their third encounter, it was Sakura who saved Naruto's life -- it was Sakura who got his heart beating again and carried his bruised, broken and bloodied body back to Konoha in time for emergency surgery.

Naruto awoke in the hospital a week later, and although he was grateful to be alive, his relief was overshadowed by his realization that Sasuke was never coming home.

*

When Naruto was released from the hospital, he visited the monument to Konoha's fallen shinobi. He found Jiraiya's name carved in the cool stone and traced the characters with his fingers. 'Is this how you felt when you lost Orochimaru?' he asked his teacher.

"He'd be proud of you."

Startled, Naruto turned to find Tsunade standing behind him. She offered him a small smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I found something," she said, and offered him a small bound novel. Naruto was about to ask what it was when he spotted Jiraiya's name on the spine. He stared up at Tsunade in astonishment, having forgotten about the book completely.

"I think he'd want you to have it," she explained.

Naruto looked down at the memento in his hands, with its ratty cover and off-white pages. He squeezed it once. "Thank you," he said.

She nodded before turning away. "Let me know if you have any questions."

*

That night, Naruto opened the novel and discovered the name of its previous owner written in hiragana on the inside cover.

"Minato," he read aloud.


End file.
